[Wanderer]

Originally posted by Arkcon:
That said, I'm finding this automatic 10% to make a game easier than my usual games. I don't normally get all planets jubilant, I tend to get a few with Indifferent and a couple with Angry.

I research Urban Pacification Centers very early on. In fact there are times I wish the stock happiness modifiers were multiples of 20% not 10% (i.e. jubilant gives you 40% - as it was in SE3) And yes, I know the figures can be modded.

The only problem I have with happiness is taking over multiple enemy planets (one is easy as your troops and fleet quell any riots within a turn). I read about how emotionless cancels out riot-control, so I've never picked it.

Then again, I've not played PBW so I've never lost a large fleet except for the odd mine-related disaster early on in a game...

...although in the current game my combined fleet of 50 (one third of which are unarmed support craft) came across 103 alien vessels and didn't have enough movement to warp out of the system again. Luckily for me, the AI decided to run away (lack of supplies? It was orbitting a third empire's planet though).